The 50 Sexiest Film Scenes of All Time

The post The 50 Sexiest Film Scenes of All Time appeared first on Consequence.

Sex in Cinema Week continues at Consequence with our list of the best movie sex scenes. For more analysis of the Hays Code and what society labels taboo, check out our essays, interviews, and lists examining censorship of movie sex scenes and the creativity it inspired in filmmakers.

In exploring the concept of Sex in Cinema, we here at Consequence felt that it made sense to include a celebration of film’s greatest achievements when it comes to capturing the complicated concept of human sexuality. There’s one catch, of course: You, gentle reader, are not going to agree 100 percent with this list.

And that’s okay! No one will ever agree 100 percent all the time on what makes a particular scene sexy, as sexiness is ultimately a subjective quality. What we are attempting here, though, is to celebrate not just the most obvious moments of eroticism that have been featured on the big screen since the dawn of cinema, but to consider all possible definitions of titillating.

That means that in compiling options, we did not require that the scene in question include explicit nudity or sexual content; in certain contexts, after all, an illicit touching of hands or a stolen dance can be just as charged and intense as two (or more) people going at it hard. Though don’t worry — there are plenty of examples of the latter here as well.

Drawing from a century’s worth of film means accepting that some of these sequences might not have been filmed using the kinds of standards that modern-day intimacy coordinators oversee on today’s sets. However, films like Last Tango in Paris, where at least one participant has since called out a lack of consent on set, were removed from consideration. Because knowing that a scene was a violation is just not sexy.

Again, what is sexy is up to the individual. However, what we can embrace on a universal level is that the best films, across the board, do what they can to say something about human nature, and sex is an intrinsic part of that nature. It’s how the vast majority of us arrived on this planet, after all. And it’s a fun way to pass the time, while we’re lucky enough to be here.

— Liz Shannon Miller
Senior Entertainment Editor

50. An American in Paris (1951)

They’ve Got Rhythm

Director: Vincente Minnelli
Featuring: Oscar Levant
Where to Watch: Prime Video

Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron are two of the best dancers the film industry ever had. In her film debut (!), Caron steals the show as Lise — from her introduction to the film’s breathtaking finale, she’s utterly captivating. An American in Paris ends with an extended dream ballet, which often features Kelly and Caron lit in silhouette, making the lines of their movement and the restraint they express as they peel apart and find one another again impossible to ignore. The dream sequence shows the two in different vignettes of Paris; the romance and sheer physicality on display is far sexier than if they’d ended the film with a kiss or two. — Mary Siroky

49. Robin Hood (1973)

“Love Goes On and On and On”

Robin Hood (Disney)

Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Featuring: Brian Bedford, Monica Evans
Where to Watch: Disney+

There’s not much to the love scene in Disney’s Robin Hood, and that’s the point. With Maid Marian reunited with her childhood sweetheart Robin Hood, the two frolic through the twinkling forest, occasionally stopping to embrace. Meanwhile, a gorgeous rendition of Floyd Huddleston and George Bruns’ “Love” plays throughout. Of course, there’s nothing explicit about the scene whatsoever — it’s a Disney movie, after all. But the luxurious animation, the languid ways in which their bodies move in sync, the hazy moonlight guiding their movements, the gentle addition of a ring to Marian’s finger, the way they stare at each other… all of it, in a subtextual, coded way, feels like the consummation of a relationship (see also: the “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” sequence in The Lion King). It’s utterly romantic and palpably warm, and as many have attested over the last 50 years, that fox is certainly swoon-worthy. — Paolo Ragusa

48. Gone Girl (2014)

Sugar Storm

Gone Girl (20th Century Fox)

Director: David Fincher
Featuring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike
Where to Watch: Max

Another film full of decidedly unsexy sex — Neil Patrick Harris’ “blood job,” anyone? — Gone Girl has too many hot actors to not slip in at least one enjoyable scene of physicality. It’s as if director David Fincher knew that, so he made sure to slot one in within the first ten minutes of the film. Before the rest of the plot has the chance to ruin your perception of both characters, Fincher introduces the origins of Nicholas Dunne (Ben Affleck) and Amy Dunne’s (Rosamund Pike) relationship through a beautiful, dream-like flashback. There’s flirting, a true-blue sugar storm, and Dunne proving that there’s at least a semblance of a gentleman within him (wink wink, nudge nudge). It’s so lovely, in fact, that it might not be a bad idea to cease watching the movie after this point. You know, for your mental health. — Jonah Krueger

47. No Strings Attached (2011)

“It’s Gonna Be Fun”

No Strings Attached (Paramount)

Director: Ivan Reitman
Featuring: Ashton Kutcher, Natalie Portman
Where to Watch: Paramount+

Of the two “friends with benefits” rom-com to come out in 2011, New Girl creator Elizabeth Meriwether’s script ensured that the Natalie Portman/Ashton Kutcher one was the best of the two. Adam (Kutcher) and Emma (Portman) first meet as young teenagers at camp, but don’t end up hooking up until years later. And while their first time together, as directed by Ivan Reitman, doesn’t take all that long, it’s so grounded in ordinary details (the fumbling for the condom, the hasty removal of just enough clothes to make the act possible) that the realism itself becomes hot. In real life, after all, sex doesn’t come with a guarantee of perfect lighting and the perfect song in the background. But that doesn’t make it any less hot. — L.S. Miller

46. It Happened One Night (1934)

“The Walls of Jericho Are Toppling!”

It Happened One Night (Columbia Pictures)

Director: Frank Capra
Featuring: Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable
Where to Watch: Available on VOD

It Happened One Night earns its enemies-to-lovers arc right from the premise: Ellie (Claudette Colbert) is a spoiled heiress running from her father so she can elope, and Peter (Clark Gable) is a recently-fired newspaper reporter determined to make her story into a big scoop. Until, that is, they find they make a pretty good team. For them to get together, though, there’s the tricky element of Ellie technically being married already — fortunately, Ellie’s father (Walter Connolly) agrees to help sort out the annulment. This leads to one of the funniest, most urgently horny lines in all of cinema: In the witty world of the script, the walls of Jericho are a metaphor for the barriers of propriety that stop unmarried people from sex, and an allusion to strung-up blanket that separated Ellie and Peter on the road. At the end, Peter writes to Dad, “What’s holding up the annulment, you slowpoke? The walls of Jericho are toppling!” I would have loved to be in the theater in 1934 when the message from Peter was read out loud, essentially meaning: “Hurry up with the paperwork, I’m about to fuck your daughter.” The moment they finally boink is celebrated with the blast of a tin trumpet, and it’s no less erotic for being hilarious. — Wren Graves

45. Magic Mike XXL (2015)

“I Want It That Way”

Director: Gregory Jacobs
Featuring: Joe Manganiello
Where to Watch: Available on VOD

The ultimate dudes-rock film, there’s something incredibly sweet about the hip-thrusting bromance of this sequel to Soderbergh’s recession-era sleeper hit. But nothing hits quite like Joe Manganiello’s playful strip scene in a highway gas station, a way to reclaim his flagging mojo and prove to the rest of the boys that he can make the female store clerk smile. Turning the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” into a Pepsi-product-fueled seduction, (mostly) fully clothed but playfully sexy, it’s one of the funniest — and sexiest — displays of male sensuality in movie history. “How much for the Cheetos and water?” — Clint Worthington

44. The Notebook (2004)

“It Still Isn’t Over”

The Notebook (New Line Cinema)

Director: Nick Cassavetes
Featuring: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams
Where to Watch: Available on VOD

It’s cheesy. I love it. The transitions in their conversation make no sense. I love it. The way he hoists her into the air looks massively uncomfortable for both of them. That’s their problem, because I love it. Ryan Gosling (Noah) and Rachel McAdams (Allie) aren’t just dripping with rain, they are drenched in feelings. And because in the plot it turns out that her parents were keeping them apart, they get to have one of the hottest but rarest kinds of sex: make-up sex where nobody did anything wrong. It’s a perfect fantasy of overcoming adversity, and I can’t hear you calling it cliched because I’m too busy screaming I love it. — W. Graves

43. Crash (1996)

Spader-Man: Turn On the Car

Crash (Alliance Communications)

Director: David Cronenberg
Featuring: James Spader, Rosanna Arquette
Where to Watch: N/A

Roger Ebert once described David Cronenberg’s 1996 thriller as “a porno movie made by a computer,” which feels apt: The body-horror master blends the perverse thrills of sexuality with the brutal violence of gore and the coldness of machinery. And so it goes that James Spader’s TV producer grows increasingly, erotically inspired by car crashes, and the spiritual and sexual wounds they leave in people. One of those wounds belongs to Rosanna Arquette’s Gabrielle, who fumbles with Spader in the backseat of a car; her leg scar, which resembles a vulva, provides yet more fuel for their transgressive lovemaking. – C. Worthington

42. Cruel Intentions (1999)

Kissing Practice

Cruel Intentions (Sony)

Director: Roger Kumble
Featuring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Selma Blair
Where to Watch: Tubi, Plex

Cruel Intentions is the sort of teenaged erotic thriller that just doesn’t get made anymore. (Honestly, probably with good reason.) So perhaps it helps to just look at this pivotal makeout session in the most basic terms: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Kathryn) and Selma Blair (Cecile) were two of Hollywood’s hottest new stars in the late ’90s, particularly the former thanks to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Watching these two trade outrageous amount of tongue was all the shock value needed to provoke wide-eyed audiences and a Best Kiss MTV Movie Award. There’s some true aesthetic beauty in the softness of the lip lock, though, while that string of saliva only adds to the dirtiness. Storywise, there’s a lot of gross manipulation at play here, but for pure sexiness of the kiss itself, as Cecile says, “That was cool.” — Ben Kaye

41. Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)

They Fight, and Then…

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (20th Century Fox)

Director: Doug Liman
Featuring: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt
Where to Watch: Starz

There’s a reason Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got together on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Their romantic chemistry is overwhelmingly good in Doug Liman’s otherwise plain action comedy, and it remains the film’s defining feature. When the two secret assassins (who are married to each other) are tasked with killing the other, they get in one hell of a fight that essentially destroys their house. At a standstill, however, Pitt and Jolie embrace each other with so much passion, urgency, and lust, that it creates a riveting, endlessly replayable sex scene. Even with all the high-wire action that precedes it, you can’t help but wish you were in their shoes. — P. Ragusa

40. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

The Brando of It All

Director: Elia Kazan
Featuring: Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter
Where to Watch: Available on VOD

Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire is one of those “I’m him” performances — he exhibits so much command both in physicality and in language and embodies the kind of monolithic male character that Tennessee Williams oft demanded. Brando leaned into the idea of exploring Stanley’s id; his urges, desires, and gut reactions are emphasized, meaning that Brando was letting sex seep into each and every move he made on set. The iconic “STELLA!” scene with Stanley screaming in the rain, as well as the final confrontation between him and Blanche (Vivien Leigh), are the culminations of Stanley’s most charged, desire-hungry impulses. Even though he’s dangerous and controlling, Brando makes Stanley feel, somehow, incredibly sexy. — P. Ragusa

39. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Alice’s Dream

Eyes Wide Shut (Warner Bros.)

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Featuring: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman
Where to Watch: Paramount+, Showtime

There’s not as much sex as you’d expect in Stanley Kubrick’s final film, given its infamous battle to receive an R rating after initially getting an NC-17 from the MPAA. And its most charged moment doesn’t involve any on-screen sex at all. Instead, in one long monologue, the aloof Alice (Nicole Kidman) reveals to her husband Bill (Tom Cruise) that she once had an intense fantasy about leaving him and her daughter for a naval officer she met on vacation. Alice made the choice not to follow through on her fantasy, but it still lingers with her; what makes this scene so charged is how it captures both the allure of the forbidden and the tantalizing nature of possibility. — L.S. Miller

38. Phantom Thread (2017)

“Kiss Me My Darling, Before I’m Sick Again”

Phantom Thread (Focus Features)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Featuring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps
Where to Watch: Netflix

Listen, while Consequence doesn’t condone toxicity, sometimes dysfunctional relationships in fiction can be kinda hot — especially if Daniel Day-Lewis is involved. Need proof? Look no further than Phantom Thread. After watching the highs and lows of Reynolds Woodcock (Day-Lewis) and Alma Elson’s (Vicky Krieps) power struggle of a relationship, tensions are at an all-time high as Krieps once again attempts to position herself over Woodcock via a poisoned meal. Woodcock, onto the gambit this time, knowingly eats the tainted food and, after a brief exchange with Krieps, gives into her vie for control with what’s perhaps the sexiest line about vomit ever muttered: “Kiss me my darling, before I’m sick again.” — J. Krueger

37. Carol (2015)

Happy New Year

Carol (The Weinstein Company)

Director: Todd Haynes
Featuring: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
Where to Watch: Netflix

“Harold, they’re lesbians.” So goes the iconic meme born from Todd Haynes’ beautifully rendered period drama, which slow-plays the burning romance between shopgirl Therese (Rooney Mara) and restless housewife Carol (Cate Blanchett) — until it very much doesn’t. When the two women set off together on a holiday road trip to nowhere in particular, things initially stay quite chaste. Then, the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, and the two women finally explore their passion for each other, with the golden hues of the cinematography making it clear just how special this night is for both of them. — L.S. Miller

35. Call Me By Your Name (2017)

Elio and Oliver’s First Kiss

Call Me By Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics)

Director: Luca Guadagnino
Featuring: Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer
Where to Watch: Netflix

There are dozens of moments in Luca Guadagnino’s stunning 2017 film Call Me By Your Name that could qualify for this list; the iconic peach moment had a lot of audience members feeling bashful, and the moment where Elio (Timothée Chalamet) and Oliver (Armie Hammer) finally consummate their relationship was cathartically erotic. But before those moments comes the scene where Elio and Oliver finally cross the threshold between friends and lovers as they lay together on the grass. The scene’s soundscape is entirely diegetic, comprised of the environment’s natural buzzing sounds from bugs, birds, rustling grass, and the Italian breeze; but when Elio and Oliver kiss, you can hear the way their breath changes, the consuming feeling that sets into both of their bellies as they embrace desire, if only for a fleeting moment. It’s a scene that’s as peaceful as it is charged, as emotional as it is natural and intuitive. — P. Ragusa

35. Before Sunrise (1995)

Jesse and Céline’s Romantic Farewell

Director: Richard Linklater
Featuring: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
Where to Watch: Available on VOD

At the conclusion of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy)’s romantic rendezvous in Vienna, they end up lying together in a park as the night draws to a close. Céline and Jesse agree that they probably should not have sex, given the fact that they’ve had such a fulfilling day together, and they know it’ll hurt to not be able to see each other afterwards. But what’s so irresistible about this scene is how badly both want to sleep together, against their better judgment — the way their eyes meet, especially when Céline first brings it up, emanates with passion. When the scene comes to an end with the two making out, it’s not explicitly clear that they’ll go all the way, letting the audience’s imagination run wild with romantic fantasy. — P. Ragusa

34. Mulholland Drive (2001)

“I’m in Love with You”

Mulholland Drive (Universal)

Director: David Lynch
Featuring: Laura Harring, Naomi Watts
Where to Watch: Paramount+, Showtime

After an unexpected lull in the madness of Mulholland Drive, the intensity picks up again with this hot scene in which Betty (Naomi Watts) joins Rita (Laura Harring) in an embrace, confessing her love for the mysterious woman. The score building up as the heat kicks in only helps to make this scene all the more sensual, their embrace serving as the climax for tensions that had been building throughout the rest of the film. Nothing is shown besides the two held together closely and their first shared kisses, but nothing more is needed to make this scene as sexy and impactful as it is. — Aidan Sharp-Moses

33. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

“Short, Short Skirts”

The Wolf of Wall Street (Paramount)

Director: Martin Scorsese
Featuring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie
Where to Watch: Netflix, Paramount+

It’s not exactly revolutionary to say that the act of teasing can be quite alluring. Oftentimes, holding back and engaging in a little ambiguity can be far sexier than copulating itself. Martin Scorsese clearly understands this concept, taking it to the Nth degree in The Wolf of Wall Street by somehow making a scene about denying sex hotter than any of the film’s instances of full-on nudity. Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) has fucked up (in more ways than we can count), and, in retaliation, Naomi Lapaglia (Margot Robbie) has decided that not only is she going to withhold sex from Belfort, but she’s going to make it as difficult as possible for the sex-crazed bastard. Thus, “It’s going to be nothing but short, short skirts around the house… but no touching,” she says as Belfort is led to the floor, foaming at the mouth, by her high heel. — J. Krueger

32. Basic Instinct (1992)

“The Fuck of the Century”

Basic Instinct (TriStar)

Director: Paul Verhoven
Featuring: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone
Where to Watch: Paramount+, Showtime

One of the most infamous erotic movies of its time, Basic Instinct was a game-changing film when it came to the portrayal of sex on screen, thanks to enigmatic Hitchcock-esque blonde Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone), a brilliant and openly bisexual crime writer who may or may not be a serial killer. Solving that mystery is initially what draws Detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) to her, but it’s their off-the-charts sexual chemistry that eventually brings him to her bed. Some light bondage (reminiscent of the murder which begins the film) accompanies their fast and intense sex, which inspires Nick to call her “the fuck of the century.” Of course, to Catherine, it was nothing special. But that’s just the way she is. — L.S. Miller

31. Dirty Dancing (1987)

Baby and Johnny’s First Time

Dirty Dancing (Vestron Pictures)

Director: Emile Ardolino
Featuring: Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze
Where to Watch: Paramount+

When Baby (Jennifer Grey) decides to confront Johnny (Patrick Swayze) in his cabin, she might be dressed in innocent white, but it’s in juxtaposition to her true desires. She’s there to make it clear just how much she wants him; Baby may be scared of a lot of things, but for the first time, she’s actively making the decision not to give into her biggest fear. “I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you,” she says, delivering one of the most straightforwardly romantic lines of all time. Then the two of them give up on words, instead shifting to a sensual dance that’s the most honest they’ve been the entire film — at least when it comes to how they feel about each other. — Cielo Perez

30. The Sound of Music (1965)

Oh Captain, My Captain

Director: Robert Wise
Featuring: Julia Andrews, Christopher Plummer
Where to Watch: N/A

The unbelievable chemistry between Julie Andrews’ iconic Maria and Christopher Plummer’s Baron von Trapp is just one of the many wonderful things about The Sound of Music. Plummer was in his prime here, people — not only is he ridiculously handsome in every single frame, but he does one of the most attractive things ever put to film, which is defy the encroaching regime and tear apart the Nazi flag hung outside his home with zero hesitation. It’s truly just as good as the moment Maria and the Captain dance for the first time during the party — it’s as if everyone around them vanishes, and no one else in the world exists beyond the two of them. The eye contact is unforgettable; Maria’s flush when they pull apart is relatable. — M. Siroky

29. 9 1/2 Weeks (1986)

Hot as Ice

9 1/2 Weeks (MGM)

Director: Adrian Lyne
Featuring: Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke
Where to Watch: Available on VOD

There were certainly multiple options from this film to consider for this list, as this erotic movie from director Adrian Lyne got away with an awful lot in its depiction of a complicated relationship between two people (Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke) caught up in an intense sadomasochistic affair. However, while some of 9 1/2 Weeks’s most intense scenes feel uncomfortable at best by modern standards, the sequence in which John (Rourke) teases a blindfolded Elizabeth (Basinger) with ice cubes might be the film’s peak, if only because the lines of consent are clear, as is the fact that everyone involved is having a very charged but very sexy time. — L.S. Miller

28. The Graduate (1967)

“Mrs. Robinson, You’re Trying to Seduce Me”

The Graduate (Embassy Pictures)

Director: Mike Nichols
Featuring: Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman
Where to Watch: Tubi

Talk about a scene that needs no introduction. The first seduction scene in The Graduate has become such a staple of pop culture history that there’s undoubtedly a decently-sized population who have never once heard of the film but could easily finish the quote, “Mrs. Robinson, you’re…” And it’s for good reason. The scene is funny, genuine, and — yes — seductive. As a viewer, it’s hard not to be seduced by Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) right alongside Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman). Once the famous shot of Braddock framed by the draped leg of Mrs. Robinson hits, both the audience and Braddock are fully under the spell of Bancroft’s performance. — J. Krueger

27. Pulp Fiction (1994)

“Will You Give Me Oral Pleasure?”

Pulp Fiction (Miramax)

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Featuring: Maria de Medeiros, Bruce Willis
Where to Watch: Max

After Bruce Willis’ Butch murders his opponent in the boxing ring, he returns to his girlfriend Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros) at a motel to get some rest before they skip town. The resulting scene, dimly lit and astoundingly tender, finds an exhausted, sweaty, allegedly smelly Butch cuddling Fabienne as she wishes for “a potbelly.” They whisper playfully to each other as Willis softly kisses her, culminating in an intimate moment where Butch reassures Fabianne that he’ll love her forever and ever. Afterwards, she asks if he’ll give her “oral pleasure,” and the rest is insinuated — but the love and lust of their connection throughout the scene is utterly entrancing. Quentin Tarantino is certainly not known for his love scenes, but in this moment, he manages to make both Willis and de Madeiros into true heartthrobs. — P. Ragusa

26. Wild Things (1998)

A New Use for Champagne?

Wild Things (Columbia Pictures)

Director: John McNaughton
Featuring: Neve Campbell, Matt Dillon, Denise Richards
Where to Watch: Paramount+

An entire generation learned the term ménage à trois because of this steamy erotic thriller. In one of the definitive sex scenes of the ’90s, icons of the era Neve Campbell and Denise Richards (and, I guess, Matt Dillon?) blew pop culture’s collective pants off with their deceitful, carnal, oddly malevolent threesome. From a strictly aesthetic prospective, the intensity with which this trio ravish each other — and that iconic champagne pour — is straight sex appeal. But it’s the complicated relationships at play — the distrust, fear, anger, manipulation — wrapped with the viewer’s own uncertainty of who the hero of this story is that send it over the edge. These women are 18-year-olds, after all, and nothing better sums up teenaged hormones than “complex.” — B. Kaye

25. Love & Basketball (2000)

One on One

Director: Gina Prince Bythewood
Featuring: Omar Epps, Sanaa Lathan
Where to Watch: Tubi

The relationship between Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps), from childhood on up, has always revolved around their mutual love of basketball, with games of one-on-one a regular occurrence. However, the most pivotal game comes years after their initial breakup, with bigger stakes than ever before: If Monica wins, Quincy agrees to not get married to another woman. The resulting game is physical as ever, with neither of them holding back on the court as the scene gets sweatier and more intense… Until, that is, Quincy manages to sink the winning shot. However, he still decides to cancel his wedding, anyway, and the two of them embrace. Because if Quincy didn’t love her, he wouldn’t have agreed to play with Monica in the first place. — C. Perez

24. Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996)

Lessons

Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (Trimark)

Director: Mira Nair
Featuring: Naveen Andrews, Sarita Choudhury, Indira Varma
Where to Watch: Available on VOD

Mira Nair’s erotic romance wasn’t a critical favorite at the time of its release — and today, its two-dimensional storytelling holds up less well. However, it did recognize the power of female sexuality, thanks to the character of Rasa Devi (Rekha), who instructs future courtesans in the ways of the Kama Sutra. Early on, as she instructs her pupils on pleasure, we see them practicing her teachings with each other — fully clothed, but miming their way through the acts that promise great pleasure down the line. For its time, especially, exploring sensuality as an experience in its own right felt like a new concept, one Kama Sutra did its best to champion. — L.S. Miller

23. Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Flex on ‘Em

Director: Joe Wright
Featuring: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen
Where to Watch: Available on VOD

Much has been made of the iconic Mr. Darcy hand flex — feel free to jump over to one of the many full-length essays on the subject if you’d like to spend a bit more time daydreaming about this encounter with Elizabeth. Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen are truly unforgettable in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice — their banter is sharp and their reluctant chemistry is pitch-perfect. In the thick of their ongoing repartee is the most swoon-worthy moment of all — after helping Elizabeth into a carriage, Mr. Darcy flexes his hand. It’s a brief moment, but the camera catches it in a deeply intentional manner; it’s the moment Darcy realizes his interest in Elizabeth is far more physical than he’d let himself believe. Unfortunately, now I (and millions of other people) have this unrealistic vision of a man being so simultaneously attracted to me and annoyed with my cleverness that the first time we touch he has to take a lap and shake it off. If it’s not that, I don’t want it! Keep it! — M. Siroky

22. Black Swan (2010)

Once More, with Feeling

Black Swan (Fox Searchlight)

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Featuring: Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman
Where to Watch: Available on VOD

In the sexiest moments of Darren Aronofsky’s mind-bending and sometimes erotic film, the intensity of two dancers’ rivalry cascading into attraction is incredibly satisfying to witness. In particular, Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman made their mark with this noteworthy scene: In the midst of the self-doubt and psychological spiral Portman’s Nina is experiencing, she acquiesces to a wild night out with Kunis’ Lily — the Black Swan, the Odile of the lake, and her artistic foil. There’s already so much passion between them, thanks to the pressure cooker that is the ballet world, that this release for the characters (aided by the commitment of the two actresses involved) remains incredibly memorable. — M. Siroky

21. Secretary (2002)

Care and Trust

Secretary (Lions Gate Films)

Director: Steven Shainberg
Featuring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Spader
Where to Watch: Tubi, Plex

There’s plenty of overtly sexy stuff in Secretary — your personal proclivities notwithstanding. As much as the film succeeds in portraying kink in ways newly embraced by the turn of the millenium, however, its greatest triumph is its presentation of the emotional elements of BDSM. Any masochist will tell you it’s as much about care and trust as physicality, something depicted with sweet sensuality in this film’s closing moments. We’ve rooted for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s emotionally fragile, sexually burgeoning Lee while we’ve watched James Spader’s struggle to come to grips with the relationship in which he’s found himself. After all the “alternative” courting, watching Mr. Grey truly take care of Lee as a gentle paramour is the most intimate and sultry moment of the film. Lee’s first-date-level questions only emphasize how deep their sexual and emotional connection really is. — B. Kaye

20. Thelma and Louise (1991)

Brad Pitt and His “Gun”

Director: Ridley Scott
Featuring: Geena Davis, Brad Pitt
Where to Watch: Paramount+, AMC+

Few people on screen have ever been as effortlessly beautiful as young Brad Pitt, and he practically glows in Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning crime drama. As a hitchhiker who stumbles across the titular best friends just as their fun road trip has taken a turn towards the criminal, J.D. (Pitt) doesn’t have much in the way of brains, but he does know enough about the particulars of armed robbery to provide Thelma (Geena Davis) with a shirtless tutorial. The scene is less about seduction and more about enjoying the build-up to the inevitable, though perhaps its most memorable visual is J.D. tucking the hair dryer he’s been wielding as a gun into the waistband of his pants. “I’ve always believed that done properly, armed robbery doesn’t have to be a totally unpleasant experience,” he tells Thelma just before their love-making begins in full. He could be talking about a whole lot of other things. — L.S. Miller

19. Moonlight (2016)

Under the Moonlight

Moonlight (A24)

Director: Barry Jenkins
Featuring: Jharrel Jerome, Ashton Sanders
Where to Watch: Max

Unfortunately, Hollywood has a less-than-ideal history when it comes to portraying relationships that fall outside of the heteronormative status quo. From systemic societal roadblocks making it harder for queer filmmakers to land high-ranking positions to the Motion Picture Association’s many hypocrisies (more on that here), gay representation in film remains a fundamental issue within the industry — which is what makes projects like Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight all the more beautiful. The first time teenage Chiron (Ashton Sanders) and Kevin (Ashton Sanders) act on their attraction, in particular, is among the best love scenes of the 21st century. Lit by moonlight, the moment they embrace is truly powerful, existing as a brief instance of comfort for the otherwise tense Chiron. — J. Krueger

15. Risky Business (1983)

In the Air Tonight

Risky Business (Warner Bros.)

Director: Paul Brickman
Featuring: Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay
Where to Watch: Paramount+

Sleeping with Lana (Rebecca De Mornay) isn’t the biggest chance Joel (Tom Cruise) takes in this 1980s comedy about how much trouble you can get into while your parents aren’t in town, but it’s certainly on the list. A great song in the background isn’t essential for a great sex scene — but it doesn’t hurt. And if the song in question is Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” and the people involved are 1980s-era Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay, and the setting is a train car late at night… well, when the music segues to the Tangerine Dream score, you know shit’s about to get real. It’s not as explicit as you might expect, but the intensity cannot be undersold. — L.S. Miller

17. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2020)

Slow Burn

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Pyramide Films)

Director: Céline Sciamma
Featuring: Adèle Haenel, Noémie Merlant
Where to Watch: Hulu

2019’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire is characterized by its intimacy — the two central characters, Marianne and Heloise, are isolated on a small island, completely removed from the outside world. It’s because of this distance that the slow discovery and trust between them feels all the more thrilling; their romance is all theirs. The fact that their time together is temporary ensures that the night they finally give into their affection for one another feels all the more urgent. The film’s writer and director, Celine Sciamma, takes her time laying the groundwork, but the slow burn does indeed eventually catch fire. — M. Siroky

16. The Dreamers (2003)

Mighty Afrodite

The Dreamers (Fox Searchlight)

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Featuring: Eva Green, Michael Pitt
Where to Watch: Available on VOD

Never mind the Roman name, the Venus de Milo is a marble wonder from Greece depicting Aphrodite, her ancient arms broken off, with a bare torso and cloth draped about her waist. Well, among us mortals, Eva Green is as fair a stand-in for a goddess of beauty as you are likely to find, and with some startlingly original stagecraft, Bertolucci brings that statue to life. In one of the sexiest movie scenes of the century, Green appears in a similar state of undress as the Venus de Milo, and shockingly, she also seems to be without arms. As she saunters towards a waiting Michael Pitt, the illusion is revealed to be a trick of some long black gloves. Unfortunately for these dreamers, he only has a little time to stick his face under her towel before the real world comes bursting in. — W. Graves

18. Bull Durham (2002)

“Crash” Davis Finally Scores

Director: Ron Shelton
Featuring: Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon
Where to Watch: Max

When we first meet baseball-and-sex-loving Annie (Susan Sarandon), she’s more than certain that she’s got everything figured out about her two favorite pastimes, and knows better than to let something like falling in love mess with that. Then comes “Crash” Davis (Kevin Costner), who initially challenges her worldview with one of the great monologues of all time. Then, he proceeds to muck with her system as the two of them battle over the education of young “Nuke” Laloosh (Tim Robbins), until finally it’s time for them come together for a long love-making montage that’s hot on its own level, but even hotter after watching two soulmates-to-be butt heads up to that point. — L.S. Miller

14. Pretty Woman (1990)

The Piano Bar

Pretty Woman (Touchstone)

Director: Garry Marshall
Featuring: Richard Gere, Julia Roberts
Where to Watch: Available on VOD

Accompanied by no score music and only the diegetic keys of the piano, this scene shows Edward (Richard Gere) and Vivian (a stunning Julia Roberts) starting to get down and dirty on top of the same piano that we saw debut her iconic black cocktail dress. The payoff after over an hour of tensions building between the two, the intimacy shared between the couple as Vivian begins to realize that she is in love with the man who hired her is stunningly real. More than just a moment to get everyone riled up (although it does that quite well), this thoughtful and sensual scene brings the drama of this relationship to a head. — A. Sharp-Moses

13. In the Mood for Love (2000)

Wong Kar-wai, Did You Break My Heart?

In the Mood for Love (Block 2 Pictures)

Director: Wong Kar-wai
Featuring: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung
Where to Watch: Max, Criterion Channel

If there’s one thing about romance this iconic film captures, it’s the intensity of yearning. Director Wong Kar-wai struck gold with the chemistry between Tony Leung and and Maggie Cheung; almost nothing physical happens over the course of In the Mood for Love, but the attraction between the two is tangible. One of the most memorable moments occurs when Leung’s Mo-wan crosses paths with Cheung’s Li-zhen on a rainy night — there’s a beat in the corridor when time stands still. We as the audience feel like we’re intruding just by witnessing this moment of connection. — M. Siroky

12. Disobedience (2017)

Spit Take

Disobedience (Bleeker Street)

Director: Sebastián Lelio
Featuring: Rachal McAdams, Rachel Weisz
Where to Watch: Starz

Ronit (Rachel Weisz) and Esti (Rachel McAdams) have a connection going back years when the two are reunited following Ronit’s father’s death, so despite their love being forbidden by their Orthodox Jewish community, it seems inevitable that they’d eventually find each other again. The resulting conflagration is raw, hot, and not afraid of exploring the most intimate details — including a memorable instance in which Ronit spits into Esti’s mouth, the sort of moment that you don’t see too often on screen, which makes the scene that much hotter as a result. — L.S. Miller

11. Blue Valentine (2010)

Dean Goes Down

Blue Valentine (The Weinstein Company)

Director: Derek Cianfrance
Featuring: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams
Where to Watch: Max

In this stunning scene from Blue Valentine, not a whole lot is left to the imagination. In one of the many brighter spots shown of the marriage between Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams), he goes down on her in the hallway for a raw, realistic, and intimate depiction of oral sex. It does not get a whole lot steamier than this scene, with the content nearly getting the film labeled in the NC-17 category before the director could get it back down to an R rating, and this movie is all the better for it. Without this scene, we would be left without one of the hottest scenes we may ever see on the big screen, as well as a deeper understanding of the connection between these two people. — A. Sharp-Moses

10. Titanic (1997)

Be Steamed My Heart

Director: James Cameron
Featuring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet
Where to Watch: Paramount+, Pluto TV

Titanic made a bazillion dollars in part because of repeat viewers, and there’s no mystery why folks kept coming back. Kate Winslet could strike up chemistry with a cast iron skillet, and in 1997 Leonardo DiCaprio was arguably the single most beautiful person on the planet. Sparks flew in every scene they shared, and while the tension peaked with, “Draw me like one of your French girls,” there’s not much in movies that tops the sex scene in the car. Cameron intercuts their embrace with anxious moments of the Titanic crew complaining of the cold, reminding us where this hot union is heading. You can’t see too much, but you can just about feel your skin sticking to car leather when the hand drags slowly down the steamy window. — W. Graves

09. The Handmaiden (2016)

The Reveal of the Relationship

The Handmaiden (CJ Entertainment)

Director: Park Chan-wook
Featuring: Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri
Where to Watch: Prime Video

Chan-wook Park’s twisty, labyrinthine adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel Fingersmith delights in its clash of sensibilities and cultures — the cross-cultural tensions of Japanese-occupied Korea in the 1930s, the lurid expectations of men versus the controlled, “proper” expectations placed on women. But one of The Handmaiden’s most delightful sleights of hand is the reveal that petty thief Sook-Hee (Kim Tae-ri) and the demure lady she serves (Kim Min-Hee’s Hideko) have fallen for each other — shucking the muted sensuality of their first encounters for a breathless, fumbling love scene in Hideko’s bed as acrobatic as it is emotionally charged. There’s scissoring, tangled limbs, lips smeared with fluids; it’s hot on its own, and thematically poignant in context. — C. Worthington

08. Brokeback Mountain (2005)

The First Time

Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features)

Director: Ang Lee
Featuring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger
Where to Watch: Starz

Ang Lee’s seminal 2005 queer romance takes it time to build up the simmering sexual tension between Jake Gyllenhaal’s Jack Twist and Heath Ledger’s Ennis Del Mar. But what a glorious release it is, after weeks of stolen glances and stifled yearnings climax in a hurried roll in the hay in a tent at nighttime. Sure, it’s a bit unrealistic (or at least unhygienic) to leap right for anal sex with just a bit of spit for lube — to say nothing of that fact these boys have been eating nothing but beans for weeks; no enemas in the mountains! But its spontaneity (and roughness) is what makes it so hot. It’s the much-needed release of two men who crave each other, setting off a tragic, Oscar-winning love story. — C. Worthington

07. Boogie Nights (1997)

Dirk’s First Dance

Boogie Nights (New Line Cinema)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Featuring: Julianne Moore, Mark Wahlberg
Where to Watch: Paramount+, Showtime

Sex does not equate to sexiness: By now, the old adage of “sex is like pizza” has been thoroughly dismantled. Case in point, Boogie Nights, which features just about every kind of sex scene there is, from comedic to uncomfortable to straight-up repulsive. Luckily, before Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg) fully embodies the character of Dirk Diggler, falling into coked-out aggression and the intoxication of stardom, his wide-eyed enthusiasm and nervous politeness allow for a brief instance of uncomplicated lovemaking with Amber Waves (Julianne Moore). Sure, there are chuckles to be had in the reaction shots of the crew looking amazed at the size of Adams’ impressive… member, but there’s undeniably intimacy in the way Waves softly coaches Adams through his first porn scene. And, yes, writing it out, it sounds a tad ridiculous — and it is a tad ridiculous — but it’s also, dare we say, pretty damn sweet and pretty damn sexy. — J. Krueger

06. Bound (1996)

“Thirsty, Maybe?”

Bound (Gramercy Pictures)

Director: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski
Featuring: Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly
Where to Watch: Paramount+, Pluto TV

When the Wachowskis’ debut feature begins, the viewer is quickly aware that butch handyperson Corky (Gina Gershon) is a lesbian. But it’s not until the femme-presenting Violet (Jennifer Tilly) finds a good excuse to invite Corky into her apartment that it’s clear the attraction between the two women goes both ways. Their resulting rendezvous on Violet’s couch kicks up a very dangerous game — since Violet’s “arrangement” with Mickey (Joe Pantoliano) means she’s in deep with the mob — but the scorching chemistry between them makes it clear why, later, both women would risk so much for each other. It’s not the most explicit scene of the film, but it’s the kind of scene that’s impossible to forget, in part because it knows just how much to show and just how much to infer. — L.S. Miller

05. From Here to Eternity (1953)

Sex on the Beach

Director: Fred Zinnemann
Featuring: Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster
Where to Watch: Max

Two lovers entwined on a beach as the wild waves come crashing in: This moment from From Here to Eternity is one of cinema’s most iconic images, across all genres. Yet there’s much more going on than just a kiss in the midst of paradise, as Karen (Deborah Kerr) and Milton (Burt Lancashire) aren’t in the middle of a joyous romp, but are instead having an illicit affair. Which, depending on your personality, only enhances the intensity of the moment. Karen, we learn later in the scene, hasn’t led the most chaste of lives — both she and her husband have been having affairs for a while, and in Karen’s case she’s dealing with the trauma of a lost pregnancy she blames on her husband’s infidelity. “Sure, I went out with men after that,” she says, but it wasn’t until Milton that she knew what she was really missing. “I never knew it could be like this!” she exclaims after they kiss. Before 1953, neither did a lot of people. — L.S. Miller

04. Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

The Inevitable

Y Tu Mamá También (20th Century Fox)

Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Featuring: Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Maribel Verdú
Where to Watch: AMC+

Alfonso Cuaron’s 2001 classic is an atom bomb of free-wheeling sexuality, a chronicle of misspent youth as longtime friends Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Tenoch (Diego Luna) road-trip to a fictional beach with their older, liberated acquaintance Luisa (Maribel Verdú). Their journey is peppered by numerous raw, naturalistic sex scenes, as the two boys vie for Luisa’s attention. But as the bittersweet threeway that ends the film implies — with its double blowjob giving way to a stolen kiss between the two boys — it feels like a barrier between the two has been broken. One that doesn’t escalate their friendship but rather tears them apart. — C. Worthington

03. Moonstruck (1987)

“A Wolf Without a Foot”

Moonstruck (MGM)

Director: Norman Jewison
Featuring: Nicolas Cage, Cher
Where to Watch: Paramount+

Nothing turns sensuality into scintillation like a bit of conflicting emotions. The passion between Cher’s Loretta and Nic Cage’s Ronny had been building since their first meeting, only presenting itself as hostility. One suffering from love-loss, the other from a resigned engagement — to the former’s brother, no less — they are set at polar opposites of the romantic spectrum. Like impressionist art, that distance allows them to see each other more clearly than they understand themselves. And what’s more alluring than being truly seen?

So when all that tension and attraction and self-sabotaging hatred finally breaks like so much glass on a flipped table, there is nothing left but desire. A brush of the hair, a shocking grab-and-kiss. She tries to resist, he bellows a “son of a bitch,” but nothing can stop them from going to that bed. They were dead, and their love — and lust — brought them back to life. — B. Kaye

02. Ghost (1990)

“Let the Clay Slide Between Your Fingers”

Ghost (Paramount Pictures)

Director: Jerry Zucker
Featuring: Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze
Where to Watch: Max

The film industry has seen more than enough remakes, reboots, and ripoffs. But we can honestly say, Hollywood should make more movies about a horny ghost who was murdered by his best friend and is now trying to save his girlfriend’s life with the help of a psychic played by Whoopi Goldberg. Unusually for this list, the big sex scene arrives at the beginning of the film, and instead of serving as the payoff to more than an hour of tension, it becomes the whole justification for the plot. Once we see the passion shared by Sam (Patrick Swayze) and Molly (Demi Moore), we understand why his soul rejects heaven to hang around.

The sex scene gets off to a great start: Demi Moore is wearing a shirt and Patrick Swayze is wearing pants, so they’ve got one outfit between them. But the real appeal — and the thing that turns a supernatural romance into an all-time great erotic movie — is how they work the clay while they’re working each other up. As the pottery wheel spins, they make purposeful, repetitive movements, each time getting a little closer — not to creating a usable vase, though. Soon his hands drift off the clay and onto her fingers, and soon after that they’re ready to wear zero outfits between them. The whole sequence is sensual and deeply original. — W. Graves

01. Out of Sight (1998)

Time Out

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Featuring: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez
Where to Watch: Peacock

How can a sex scene capture the fact that the anticipation of an encounter can be just as charged, just as intimate, as the encounter itself? Director Steven Soderbergh showed us how in 1998, as the brilliant Anne V. Coates’s editing intercuts bank robber Jack Foley (George Clooney) finding U.S. Marshal Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez) in a Detroit hotel bar with the aftermath.

There are so many details that secure this sequence its placement on this list: The casual sharing of a bourbon, the first declaration of where things are going to go. The fact that Elliot Davis’s cinematography knows how to play with cool and warm textures, enhancing the contrast between then and now. The back-and-forth removal of clothes, each discarded piece of cloth another dare. And the way both Lopez and Clooney make sure to play every layer of this “time out” — knowing this is a fleeting opportunity for both of them, and knowing that makes it all the more special.

It’s classy, beautiful, real, grounded, and hot — a combination of synonyms that don’t often go together. Yet that’s what happens, when literal magic is made on screen. — L.S. Miller

The 50 Sexiest Film Scenes of All Time
Consequence Staff

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